This carriage path on the island of Acadia in the National Park is so inviting today. I think I have been in place way too long. We go for walks but not anywhere new. I need to find someplace close and get outside this weekend - outside but more than my deck which I am sanding down and retaining: LOCKDOWN FUN. (And there is nothing left to clean in the house!)
One Small Leap For Duckdom /
A Blue-winged Teal leaps into the air.
Now This Is Different /
A small shop in Sitka, AK had a clever way to display buttons.
Anger Management 101 /
Most of the bears we viewed were either occupied eating or just looked like they were curious about us or “above” us and could not be bothered. This one seemed like you did not want to provoke him.
Gypsum /
The “sands” of White Sands National Monument. A magical place in part because we were there on a perfect weather day, not too hot, not windy and just lovely light.
Purple Mountains Majesty /
I shared a similar photo to this two or three years ago. This is from a better angle and I think I have processed it more reasonably. It was a beautiful night in Yosemite National Park and quiet after the day folks had departed. The nearly full moon rose over Half Dome and the fading light turned it into a purple glow. Magical.
“I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.” Psalm 145: 5,6 NLT
Used /
When I was in Kinston, NC (way back when travel was permitted) I saw this food truck from the PBS show, Chef and the Farmer. Vivian Howard, the Chef, wrote a cook book and used this truck to travel promoting her book and cooking some samples. Now it seems to be just parked and waiting for the sequel? Her show ran a few seasons on PBS and it was well done. She has a new show on Southern food origins that began four week ago that is also worth the viewing . But the best part is going to the restaurant in Kinston. Highly Recommended. (Also you can view two reviews in Eats!)
A Little Different /
How are you doing in the “You can’t eat out anywhere crisis?” We are doing too well! A sampling below:
Grilled Chicken
Fresh Salmon
Waffle Night
Soup “n Salad
Ham Slice: plus!
Taco Trio
Pan fired cod
Homeade Turkey Noodle Soup with fresh biscuits
French Toast, Eggs and Bacon
Lost Fort /
Sometime after we moved to Williamsburg, VA in 1990 the ourliine of the original Jamestown Fort was uncovered after being presumed to have all washed away years before. In fact a very small portion of the fort was gone but more than 90% was still there. They have since found many artifacts and lots more sites like the very first church. For a while they erected these short walls to show the position of the fort walls.
Barred Owlet /
My neighbor is a rescue guy and busy. He and his wife respond to calls for injured or otherwise in distress primarily birds of prey. They volunteer at a place that rehibilitates then and then releases then again. This 3 or 4 week old Barred Owl feel from the nest. They bring it home and then prepare to replace him in the next again. And they did. They have had adult owls, eagles hawks and more for overnight guests. This one was certainly cute.
Unperturbed Seals /
This ice fall is from Kenai Fjords National Park. There were several seals sunning on the ice floes and they did not scatter when the ice fell.
Red Chair for Two /
One of my favorite images from Lake Louise, Banff, Alberta, Canada
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI /
“But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled.” Isaiah 25: 4,5 NLT
Mackinac Island Redux VI /
We will close our Mackinac Island tour (just a reminder to those sticklers for numbers - you know who you are, we started on Sunday!) with another view of the Grand Hotel. This beautiful place with the “worlds longest front porch” is celebrating its 133rd birthday this year, you ought to go. I hope to this summer. We won’t be staying but maybe a lunch?
Pretty decent photo for my week there a few years ago. Thanks for traveling with me on this trainee photo trip.
Mackinac Island Redux V /
This rather poorly lit scene features three other things Mackinac Island is well known for besides horses: Fudge (three shops at least in this photo), bikes and late 19th and early 20th century architecture. But mostly fudge.
Mackinac Island Redux IV /
Once again for context see Monday’s post.
Once again in a carless society you get to your hotel in one of these snappy carriages and the deep burgundy one in front from the Grand Hotel is as snappy as they get. We did not have a hotel, I found a B&B and we walked about six blocks. I would like to have this shot over again, expose better and shoot from a different angle. As it is I did not get run over so that was a victory.
Mackinac Island Redux III /
Story on this series on Monday’s post.
As no automobiles are allowed on the island alls sorts of things happen by bicycle and horse drawn equipment. Here was a funeral occurring at this chuch with the hearse waiting to take the casket to the cemetery. I stayed a respectable distance from the event. For his photo I cropped it a bit, fixed some minor issues and adjusted both color and contrast. I liked that I was able to get both the hearse and the cross, reality tempered by hope.
Mackinac Island Redux II /
If you did not read yesterday’s post, please do for context on this short series.
Next up was my artistic shot where the umbrellas of the Grand Hotel were going to be a number one best seller at fine galleries everywhere. I still like this one, I fixed the water from running off your page and did some adjustments on contrast and highlights.
Mackinac Island Redux I /
Something a bit different this week. You may or may not have noticed yesterday’s photo from Mackinac Island. It was also from the first digital photos I took. I had just bought a digital Nikon 40. Now it is really sad that I did not know anything about how to use it. I had it on auto everything and most of the shots I took were not focused well or straight (lots of lake photos with the world tipping dangerously). I “thought” owning a Nikon was the same as magically being able to take photos that would rival National Geographic, or something like that. They were all jpegs, very small and mostly exposed poorly. So, the good news is you are going to get to see them, or a small subset of them, this week. I have adjusted the contrast and some corrections where possible but the out of focus or fill-in the blanks problems remain. I was very pleased with the at the time. Not quite so now. Oh, and the biggest issue was with my mediocre eyesight I never knew if they were in focus, just could not see in the viewfinder how they really looked.
I start with a shot of the fort. It was not too bad and I fixed the blown out highlights in L4 before posting.
"He Is Not Here." /
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. “
1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 NLT
Interior window, historic church, Mackinac Island, MI